Jan 2010
BATTER BLASTER
Morning breakfast for the kids stumps me. One kid limits his breakfast repertoire to Lucky Charms and blueberries while the other refuses to eat at all. One kid likes eggs, the others would rather starve. I am pressed for time and always feel like I am sending them off for the day HUNGRY. Weekends are good for pancakes because we are all relaxed. In conversation with a friend the other day, she brought up her amazing breakfast discovery. I literally woke up the next day and ran to Whole Foods. Remember the spray whip cream pancake maker from our childhood days? Today’s version is called ORGANIC BATTER BLASTER. Besides being organic, it requires no cleanup. You simple prep the skillet with Pam or any other non-stick pan spray, shake the can with the nozzle pointed down, push the nozzle with your index finger and BLAST the batter into whatever size pancake you desire. Voila- seconds later fluffy pancakes or waffles are ready to serve. The pressurized process for preparing pancakes makes Breakfast fun, quick and easy. Amazing that it is me handing out cooking advice but I urge you to run to the market today and whip up organic pancakes tomorrow.
Jan 2010
THE “SINGLES” DINNER PARTY
I am happily and BLISSFULLY married for nearly ten years! Though I adore my husband, it is fun to listen to my single friends navigate the dating world. It was challenging back then to find Mr. Right and I can only assume it is as difficult if not more, especially now that kids are included in the “package.” Blind dates always seemed to be the best way to meet someone unless you were lucky enough to sit next to a babe on the airplane and you managed to wear cute jeans instead of leggings aka clam diggers. But for the rest of us who had to suffer through countless, never ending, painful dates, it seemed hopeless. Dating websites, coffee speed dates, and other round robins lacked promise. I recently had dinner with a few adorable single girls and listened to them complain about how hard it is to meet “good” available guys. I suddenly remembered an idea that had been pitched to me years ago. It was thought provoking then and as interesting now. HINT HINT to all singles out there… The scenario goes like this: Pick a restaurant with good energy that can accomodate a lot of people, not a trendy spot that will come and go, but somewhere where the cocktails are good, the food is comforting; a place that people will want to linger and won’t feel the pressure to eat fast and turn the tables. Select a few single friends of both sexes that socialize in DIFFERENT circles. Each person must invite a single person of the opposite sex that you think someone in the group could be attracted to. The invited guests are now part of the host “committee” and the next month they are responsible for inviting new single guests. Each month the singles dinner club will meet and expand and eventually(hopefully) couples will begin to form. No longer a part of the singles dinner club, they will be sent on their merry way with contact information for a couples’ therapist– kidding!
round robin bring somebody knew that ppl dont know
Jan 2010
NIK NAK PADDY MAC
These last few days of rain have been epic! Weather reports show that tomorrow alone the sky will cry 3 to 5 inches of rain. Schools are shut down (how east coast of us!) and moms, dads, or nannies and kids will be indoors. What to do? What to eat? How pedestrian to order in the standard chicken noodle soup when you could enjoy piping hot homemade macaroni and cheese made from scratch in LA’s only all mac and cheese kitchen. With home delivery or catering options available– the mac and cheese arrives either hot and ready to serve or cold (fridge, freezer, and oven) ready. With 6 creamy, delectable, and comforting mac and cheese flavors to choose from, the only potential roadblock in the way of your immediate gratification (TOMORROW) would be the “grounding” of the delivery truck due to the torrential pending storm. But I would bet my last dollar on Mr. Paddy Mac and his superhuman ability to deliver his mouth-watering mac and cheese to anyone at ANY time. I particularly enjoyed the Truffled Mac and Cheese (my tush did NOT) and my kids devoured the Big Paddy Mac with the cheeseburger in the middle of the pasta shells. ORDER@PADDYMAC.COM or 323/ 646-4000. Eat well and stay dry.
Jan 2010
SUCKS TO BE A BLACKERRY USER
I admit, I too was a loyal blackberry user until I succombed to the magical world of an I Phone. It was not easy to divorce the blackberry but once the paperwork became finalized and I was officially in bed with apple, I was forever hooked. And yet, this is not a post touting the I Phone…. but rather to introduce you to the most imaginative and user friendly app. Hot of the presses, meet DRAGON DICTATION- a speaking speech software for computers and I Phone. My husband, who is forced to use a blackberry, has been pining for my I Phone forever and spends his free minutes reviewing the best apps and loading them onto my phone (Love you Buns BUT please remove the Espn Score Center.) Most of the time, I ignore his suggestions much preferring to load up Elle Astrology daily, IP (look it up girls, it will change your life) Gilt Groupe, and Kindle. Until one fine day, this past weekend, husband hijacked my phone and loaded up the latest and greatest of apps.
DRAGON DICTATION
“Naturally Speaking for the iPhone called Dragon Dictation. Simply dictate a message to your iPhone and, almost instantly, your voice is transcribed with amazing accuracy. With one tap you can send the transcription to an e-mail. You can dictate a message to your iPhone a heck of a lot faster than you can tap a message on the iPhone keyboard, even if you are a good iPhone typist, so with Dragon Dictation you can save a lot of time writing messages or other text. And for a limited time, this amazing app is free.”
No emailing and texting while driving RIGHT?? Just tap and dictate the time and place of lunch and send it as an immediate email or text. I was shocked by the speed and accuracy of this tool. It will surely make for safer driving! Hopefully, Blackberry will soon have access this life changing application.
Jan 2010
COUGAR CRUISE SINKS- SORT OF…
Carnival Cruises Bans Cougars And Cubs!
“Although 300 cougars and cubs sailed on the Carnival Elation in December, it’s not gonna happen again!
When SinglesTravelCompany.com, a singles group that promotes social events for the older woman/younger man fandom, tried to book another voyage, Carnival denied their reservations.
They’re a family cruise line, so what’s wrong with bringing together mothers and boys young enough to be their sons?
“We have decided not to have any future groups on our ships booked on this theme,” said Carnival spokeswoman Jennifer de la Cruz. “There were not any particular issues on board. However, we simply made the business decision not to have future groups book on this theme.”
That’s too bad because they are missing out on some mayjah $$$$$$!
Enjoy the clean-up, Royal Carribean!”
Jan 2010
STUDIO 35+
The other day I received an email from a friend asking me what would be a cool spot to go dancing with her husband on a Saturday night. First, I was flattered that she chose to ask me. Although, I drift to sleep at night thinking of myself as some sort of a MAVEN, the reality is I am an almost forty year old mother with a slew of part time careers. I fancy myself ”cooler” than I am but- hey- I amuse myself. As I typed the list of current hot spots, I realized how pathetic I was. In order to go to one of these clubs (voyeur!) I would have to get myself put on a list and subject myself to trying to look hotter than the 20 somethings of young hollywood. Not an easy task! And then it hit me like a disco ball, (calling all investors) somebody should open a supper/ night club for the over 30 crowd. Except for a few 40th birthday parties or a second wedding, the extent of our tripping the night fantastic is limited to and starts with a four o’ clock roll in the hay, a gluttonous fancy dinner at a she-she restaurant, a dessert of self serve frozen yogurt from the local menchies and finally, cuddling while watching the tevo recording of 48 HOURS mystery where either the husband or wife offs eachother. Wouldn’t it be more exciting to go dancing with all of your friends at an age appropriate dance club where everybody knows eachother? Instead of sleeping off those dinner and wine calories, we could shimmy around the dance floor and sex it up with our husbands or crushes. I know my husband would look particularly hot in a pair of skinny jeans and a fitted black t-shirt.
Jan 2010
LOVE HER!
There is NOTHING better than when a friend does something so out of the ordinary, almost unexpected, that makes you smile. Only certain people can get away with “chicken of the sea” comments and still be adored and cherished. I have a friend who was born with the best of attributes- beauty, sweetness, joie de vivre, and a wacky endearing sense of humor. (girl crush? HA HA) She is the girl who wears fake eyelashes not just to an evening soiree but to a movie. In fact, one of my New Year’s resolutions was to learn how to put on fake eyelashes with similar speed and ease.
As discussed, a group of us spent the holiday in Mexico. At night, we dolled up for dinners and parties. If toiletries were forgotten or seized by Airport security handlers, we could make quick jaunts to the local Wal-Mart. BUT, it was the errand my friend ran at the local drug mart which brought me to hysterics. She dragged her husband to purchase non-flourescent lightbulbs to REPLACE the existing bulbs in the hotel room. No wonder why she looked more dazzling than the rest of us. I just LOVE her!
Jan 2010
LEPRECHAUN SEX
New year, new attitude, new luck! Right? Wrong! 2009 was a challenging year for all. In addition to the broad strokes of tough times, my family was also plagued by swine flu and lice. I used to laugh when my friend jokingly asked if it was me or HUSBAND who slept with a leprechaun? I would giggle and remind her that we had survived two of the holy plagues and were still standing. Vacation was a blast and we were sad to return. The weather in Mexico was perfect except for one day of torrential rain. Each morning, over bacon and coffee, my boys would compare how many bug bites they had received in the night. For some reason, my youngest son was covered in bites and I just chalked it up to mosquitoes finding him delicious and irresistable (like his mommy!) Yet last night, he felt warm and something did not seem right to me. His temperature was 102 and and suddenly those bug bites seemed to resemble Chicken Pox. I raced to the computer and googled images of chicken pox in children. Please, I begged– don’t let it be! And yet, at 2 pm sharp today, it was confirmed — chicken pox was the culprit of those nasty red sores blanketing my son’s body. Luckily, I have documented all of the crazy viruses and illnesses that my family has endured since last fall and I am not the mom who cried wolf!!!!!
